Nairobi is the leading city across Africa for online food deliveries followed by Lagos (Nigeria), Casablanca (Morocco) Kampala (Uganda), and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) according to the newly released Kenya Food Index 2020 authored by Jumia Food.
The report published ahead of World Food Day October 16 also shows Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, and Mombasa posted the most orders during the course of the year respectively.
Orders were mainly placed by the 24-34 urban, tech savvy age bracket (45%) who happen to have extra disposable income followed by the 18 – 24 bracket, 34 – 44 bracket, 44 – 45 bracket while persons aged 55 years and above accounted for 5% of the orders.
Ladies ordered more during the period under review (52%) while men accounted for the remaining (48%).
Chicken was the most popular cuisine among online customers in Kenya. Jumia Food’s data shows that chicken was the most ordered cuisine in the country between March and August 2020, followed by burgers, pizza, European dishes, and Grill.
“Fast food category, most popular, is growing due to Affordable price, convenience, and fast delivery. We also have a mix of good local and quick service restaurant brands present in the market big names like KFC, Burger King, Chicken inn. Consumer disposable income and convenience are a push for online orders coupled with high commercial activities in Nairobi as a major business hub in East Africa.” says Shreenal Ruparelia in the report.
Kenyans also went big on food orders on weekends with most deliveries made on Sundays (16%), Friday& Saturday (16%). Weekdays posted; Thursday and Tuesday (13%) and Monday (12%).
Majority of the orders were placed on lunchtime (59%), dinner (40%) and breakfast (1%) attributable to lockdowns enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Affluent Kenyans spent Ksh2,000 on average for a meal on Jumia Food, which is 25% higher than the same period last year, while the least expensive meals cost as low as Ksh 200.
Baba-Nyama-Choma is the most popular local independent restaurant on Jumia Food, followed closely by Marita’s Bhajias, Swahili Plate and Wok on Wheels.
KFC is the most popular international chain. Players in the market continue to adopt various developmental strategies to expand their fast food market share, increase profitability, and remain competitive such as launching dark stores.
The Kenya Food Index Report indicates the estimated market size for online food and beverage is Kenya’s Ksh1.8 billion and projected to reach 3.8 billion by 2024. The country’s 2.1 million active online consumers are expected to double by 2024.
“We believe that relevance is the key priority and growth driver in the years ahead for the online food and beverage industry. We will continue to grow with the big chains, but we also need more local restaurants, that sell affordable daily meals options We believe Virtual Kitchens will be increasingly popular, allowing restaurants to expand rapidly at low cost & bring both savings & convenience to more consumers,” says Jumia Kenya Managing Director Sam Chappate.
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